Once a notorious gangster, drug dealer and pimp, John Turnipseed knows what it's like to feel trapped in sin. Now a licensed minister, Turnipseed wants those struggling to make a change and to know God hears their prayers.

"I always try to tell people to look for the evidence of God because it's always there and sometimes we just ignore it. We look past it [because] it doesn't look inviting to us," he said.

In his soon-to-be-released autobiography Bloodline, Turnipseed tells how his troubled childhood led him into a life of crime and how surrendering his life to Christ led him to become a helping hand for others living hard lives. more >>

Americans are likely to use politics to assess the nation's economic condition rather than their personal financial experience, according to a recent report from a liberal polling organization.

Nearly six out of 10 African-Americans report living in a household with "moderate" to "high levels" of economic insecurity, but about 83 percent of African-Americans say they feel as though the American economy has "gotten better" or "stayed the same" in the last two years, according the Public Religion Research Institute's 2014 American Values Survey released on Tuesday.

By contrast, the survey found that only 56 percent of Caucasians feel the American economy has improved or stayed the same in the past two years despite the fact that only 36 percent of Caucasians report living a household with moderate to high economic security. more >>

Vice President Joe Biden delivered a speech focusing on income inequality and the objective to restore the middle class during a rally at the Iowa State Capitol organized by the Nuns on the Bus campaign group on Wednesday.

Biden, a Roman Catholic, paid tribute to the Catholic Sisters and their efforts going around the country petitioning for social justice issues, such as health care, immigration reform, and income inequality, and their mission to urge people to vote in the upcoming general elections in November.

"You've gone state to state arguing for moral, economic and social imperatives. To establish a decent living wage. Because you know there's no reason in the world why any American should work 40 hours a week and be $7,000 dollars below the poverty rate. That should not happen in America," Biden said. more >>

The overall poverty rate in the United States dropped for the first time since 2006, with Hispanics being the ethnic group that experienced the most significant change in income.

The U.S. Census Bureau's annual report released Tuesday indicated that the poverty rate among Latinos in 2013 decreased by 2.1 percentage points from the previous year. In addition, income for Hispanic households increased by 3.5 percent between 2012 and 2013 to $40,963.

The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference that represents millions of Hispanic Evangelicals, attributed the rise in income to more Latinos pursuing education. more >>

Bishop Stacy Sauls, Episcopal Church Chief Operating Officer, said in a statement released Monday the effort "addresses both immediate need and long term issues related to the cycle of poverty." more >>

WASHINGTON — The political stalemates between Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill stood in stark contrast to the shared vision on how to address poverty recently expressed by Jim Wallis and Arthur Brooks at an American Enterprise Institute event.

AEI's 2014 Evangelical Leadership Summit featured a Sept. 10 "debate" (really more of a discussion) between Wallis, president of Sojourners and longtime leader of the Evangelical Left, and Arthur Brooks, a Catholic and president of AEI, a conservative think tank.

Wallis and Brooks mentioned that they have participated in many debates across the country, often on college campuses. They were set up as opponents in a liberal versus conservative debate on how best to address poverty. What they found, though, was they ended up mostly agreeing with each other. more >>